Akka Classic Serialization

Don't waste months in your project only to realize Java serialization sucks. Learn to use Avro, Kryo or Protobuf to max-out the performance of your Akka system.

 

Crank up that speed.

No need for me to pitch Akka to you at this point. If you've never used Akka or you're at the "I'm curious" phase, start here. Akka is used all over the place, BUT. But. To maintain such high-scale, high-performance systems, you need good tools. Turns out, the default way actor messages are sent, for both persistence, storage and clustering, the horrendous Java serialization is used, because it works for anything, but works badly for everything.

If you want perf, you need either

  • Kryo
  • Avro
  • Protocol buffers
  • or your own message serialization

This course will teach you exactly that.

After this course, you'll be able to:

  • integrate Kryo serialization for blazing fast performance
  • integrate Avro serialization for type-safe, schema-based (and fast)
  • integrate Google's Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) for type-safety and schema evolution
  • write your own serializer for whatever your heart desires
  • configure EVERYTHING


Plus some extra perks:

  • You'll have access to the entire code I write on camera (all 726 lines of it)
  • You'll be invited to our private Slack room where I'll share latest updates, discounts, talks, conferences, and recruitment opportunities
  • (soon) You'll have access to the takeaway slides
  • (soon) You'll be able to download the videos for your offline view
 

Course Overview


  Getting Started
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Serialization
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  Epilogue
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Get started now!



Your Instructor


Daniel Ciocîrlan
Daniel Ciocîrlan

I'm a software engineer and the founder of Rock the JVM. I started the Rock the JVM project out of love for Scala and the technologies it powers - they are all amazing tools and I want to share as much of my experience with them as I can.

As of February 2024, I've taught Java, Scala, Kotlin and related tech (e.g. Cats, ZIO, Spark) to 100000+ students at various levels and I've held live training sessions for some of the best companies in the industry, including Adobe and Apple. I've also taught university students who now work at Google and Facebook (among others), I've held Hour of Code for 7-year-olds and I've taught more than 35000 kids to code.

I have a Master's Degree in Computer Science and I wrote my Bachelor and Master theses on Quantum Computation. Before starting to learn programming, I won medals at international Physics competitions.


 

Frequently Asked Questions


How long is the course? Will I have time for it?
The course is ~4.5 hours in length, with lectures around 20 minutes each. You can do it in one go if you want.
How is a usual lesson like?
Code is king, and we write it from scratch. In a typical lesson I'll explain some concepts, either in a configuration or directly in the code. We then run live examples and you'll notice the effects on your own.
Can I expense this at my company?
Of course! You'll get a detailed receipt with your purchase, including VAT (if applicable to you), which you can take to your employer to reimburse. Most (wise) companies will reimburse courses like this.
Is this course hard?
It's not "hard", but it assumes some things (like actor communication) already known. In case you struggle with something, we have a whole group on Slack for discussions, and I'm responsive.
I've never written Scala or Akka before. Should I take this course?
Go away. No, just kidding. Take a look at the Scala and Akka fundamentals here on the site first before taking this course.
Daniel, I want to join but I can't afford it.
Tell me that again when you perf goes up 50% at millions of messages per second. No, seriously - for a while, I offered discounts for the Rock the JVM courses to whomever needed them. But then I looked at the stats: almost nobody who took them actually completed any course. The full-price students were 3x as likely to complete the course. So I'm not offering discounts anymore. This course will pay off if you commit.
What if I don't like the course?
Then I want to give your money back. Email me at [email protected] with your receipt, and I will refund you. Less than 1% of the Rock the JVM students have refunded a course, and the refund took less than 72 hours.